Yale football Coach Carm Cozza is not a life-in-the-fast-lane The Game kinda guy.

But this year, Cozza's cardiac crew has found the going easier on the fast track.

The Elis have become the Ivy League's come-from-behind specialists, earning three of their four Ivy victories in the last few minutes of those games.

As a result, the Bulldogs(5-3 overall, 4-2 Ivy) have rebounded from their losingest season ever a year ago and, with a win this weekned, could snag a tie for second place in the league.

Last Saturday's Yale-Princeton contest was a perfect example of the Elis 1984 antics. Trailing the Tigers, 24-20, the Bulldogs returned a Princeton kick off to their own 36 with time running out. After three unsuccessful plays. Yale faced a desperate tourth-and-10 situation.

Princeton linebacker I orne Keller blitzed and stutted Bulldog signal-caller Mike Curtin for a 13-yd, loss, giving the Tigers the ball at the Yale 23 with just three minutes left on the clock.

Under any other circumstances, for any other team, during any other year, you could call this one in and start collecting your bets.

The visitors drove to the Yale two, but on fourth and goal. Princeton's usually dynamic duo of quarterback Doug Butler and wide receiver Derek Graham failed to connect for the touchdown.

And in 1984, it's been situations like this in which Yale can be counted on to engineer a miraculous last-minute march to redemption.

The Bulldogs did just that, with a 96-yd., 82-second scoring drive, capped by a 14-yd. Mike Curtin to Kevin Moriarty scoring strike with just nine seconds to go.

And while it might be a slight exaggeration to suggest that the Elis enjoy being pinned down by a rapidly ticking clock, only under intense pressure has an otherwise anemic offense been able to produce.

With its new found lull-cm-to-sleep and ambushem-in-the-waning-seconds tactics. Yale has rebounded from last year's 1-9 disaster to jump into undisputed third place in the Ancient Eight.

At the start of this season, however, Cozza wasn't worrying about winning last-minute football games. In the wake of the debacle of '83', and '84's first two contests-losses to Brown and Connecticut-the veteran coach would have been happy just to see his troops win the coin loss.

And Cozza, who led the Elis to nine Ivy titles in his first 19 years, seemed headed out, to pasture.

"The biggest problem you have is how to regain your confidence." Cozza says. "I'm sure the kids thought, 'here we go again."